Rotary well-boring machine.



PATENTBD MAR. a1, 1908. J. A. mess, JR. ROTARY WELL BORING MACHINE.

Arrmculon rum) JULY 22, 1901.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1- Wag, MT

4 alike "n1 4 QP'ATBNTBD MAR. 31, 1908. J. A. mass, JB- ROTARY WELL130mm; MACHINE.

3 SHEETS-311E313.

APLICATION I'ILBDJULY 22. 1907.

Qwwautoz {shown partly elevation uncovered an partly in dotted lines.Fig. 2 represents a,

JAMES ALEXANDER wrecs, 111,013; BEAUMONT, TEXAS.

ROTARY WELL-BORIN G MACHHQ'E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March. 31, 1908.

Application filed July 22, 1907. Serial No. 385,044.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES A. Wises, J12, a citizenof the United States,residing at Beaumont, in the (county of Jefferson and 5 State of Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Well- BoringMachines and I do hereby declare the following to be a mu, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the-art to which it apper tains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to rotar well-boring machines havingjopposed airsof grip- P1110 rollers on shafts which are rawn toward eac ot her.ormoved iaway from each other at will by right and left screw-threadedshafts and nuts engagingitherewitha In practice -1t is'found verydesirable to give a certain fiexibili'tyor'play to the joints at thecorners ofithd rectangnlar set of mechanism thus constituted,rsolthatthe.-=-,samc may vary toward a rhomboidform, compensatmg forvarlations of temperature orinaccurate resentation of the griprollers-to the tube,w ateverthe cause thereof; thus avoiding needlessstrain and wear. This is best attained by giving to the nuts abovementloned a curvilinear outline, total or partial, which may be concave.as shown, fitting roundedor convenparts of the grip head or grip frameorits'appurtenances at the sides of said nut. The are thereb preventedfrom movin endwise,- but w' swivel to some extent in a-horizontalplaneon the cut-- 35 viliilejar surfaces aforesaid. They are flat- 1 i tenedabove and below, and. in contact on -1-thes'e.faces wlth flattened partsof the shafts 1 and grip heads, preventing them from tilting up out oftheir horizontalfposition or rising in the least. I I ",In theaccompanyingnirawings Figure '1 represents a sidelevationipartly invertical section of a machine embodying my inven-- tion, the bed framebeing partly broken away and the stem of one of the free supports beinuIan view of the same; Fig. .3 re resents a etail side. elevation of oneof t e screwthreaded shafts;'Fig. 4 represents'a detail perspective viewof one of the bifurcated supports; Fig. 5 re resents a horizontalsection through a grip cad, showing in plan view the concave-side nutand screw shaft; Fig. 6

represents ave'rtical section of the same 1011:

-' gitudinally through the nut, showing the engaging part of thescrew-threaded shaft in elevation; Fig. 7 represents a view at rightangles to Fig. 6; Fig. 8 represents a detail perspective view of theconcave side nut; and

ig. 9 re resents a detail side elevation, en-

larged, 0 one of the supports, the socket or recess for its stem and t eproximate part of the table being shown in vertical sectlon.

A designates the bed-frame of the machine, and 1 designates the baseplate bolted thereto. Bearings B on said plate and frame support thedriving shaft 24, which is provided with a s rocket Wheel 23, forreceiving motion, am a bevel pinion 27, for transmitting it. Said srocket wheel is clutched at will to said shaft v a clutch collar 21,worked by shifting lever 22. Said pinion turns' with said shaft androtates the annular table 2 by en aging its cogs 20. Said table has acentr opening or bore 26, also a stem 25 turnin in a circular o ening of.plate 1. Said tahle is su ported y antifriction rollers 4, which arecoated in a raceway 40 formed in the said table and base plate. The twopairs of tube grip ing rollers are free to turn on their shafts 15 nownas griproller shafts or shafts carrying tube-gripping devices. Washers35 are arranged between their outer faces and the grip heads 10; Thesefour grip heads are arranged at thecor ners of the grippin mechanismconsidered as' a whole. The ends of shafts 15 which enter them have flattops 16. v Two right and eftscrew threaded adjust,- ing shafts 6 entersaid grip heads at right angles to shafts 15 and engage nuts 17 withinthe same, which nuts are flattened at the top and bottom to fit in eachinstance against the underside of the top of the 'rip head and the fiattop 16 of the shaft 15 be ow said nut. In consequence the nut cannotrise bodily nor be tilted up. The sides of eachnnut are provided withconcavities 18, receiving convex parts 19 of the grip head, thisengagement reventing all endwise movement 0 said nut hut allowing it toswivel moderately in a horizontal plane for the purposes hereinbefore exlained.

ach screw threaded shaft 6 has a central prismatic part 7 forconvenience of gripping and turning it, also terminal prismatic parts 8that may be similarly utilized. Part 7 is arranged between cylindricalarts 13 of said shaft, journalcd in bearing ho es 9 in the upper ends ofa bifurcated su port 11, having a downward stem. 12 set free y into arecess 42 their rollers away from each other, releasing projecting parts32 into or out of annular stitutes an approximately rectangular shell,

' shaft 6 t rough said grip-head, the opening 1 19 (Fig. 5) are on theother two sides of the of said nut.

0 o head are provided'wlth openings 43 and 44 shaft 15 may fit against tentire gripping mechanism when sufficiently cupied by said prismaticpart. The said apfilications hereinbefore mentioned.

in the top of said table. The two supports 11, arranged opposite eachother, rise with the jarred upward, leaping out of their sockets andleaving the 'to of the table smooth as explained in my app ication No.310943. The prismatic part 7 is preferabl not integral with the saidscrew-shaft, but astened thereto by the rivet 7 after passing the saidshaft through the openings 9 and the bore of said nut, until the middlepoint of the shaft is under the middle of the space between thebifurcations of support 11, which space is ocshafts 6 act, as usual, todraw the shafts 15 togetherand close the gripping rollers on the boringtube or rod, or to move shafts 15 and said tube; according to thedirection inwhioh shafts .6 are turned. Said table is detachablyfastened to base plate 1 by frames or castings 31 adjustable on saidplate to move their roove 3 of the reduced part of said table beow thecog-teeth, as shown in both the prior ach grip-head 10 is in one pieceand conwhich is open at the bottom, closed at the to and has a hollowinterior. Two of its si es, opposite each other, are provided withopenings 40 and 41 immediately under said 0 osed to for the passage ofscrew-threaded 41 extendin much lower than opening 40. The nut 17 igs.5, 6, 7, and 8) is arranged in line as to its length with opening 40 andthe upper part of openin 41. The screw-tapped longitudinal bore 0 saidnut of course receives the said screw-shaft: The before described convexinwardly projecting parts grip head 10, to fit the lateral concavities18 The two sides last mentioned of said grip- (Figs. 5 and 7) op ositeeach other for the reception of the re need and flattened end of theroller carrying shaft 15 proximate to the shaft 6 aforesaid, thelocation of these open ings being lower than opening 40 and nut 17 inorder that the flat to 16 of this part of fie'under side of said nutwhile the flat top of this nut fits against the fiat underside of the toof the grip-head, so that said nut is locke securely against tilting orturning and the shaft is locked against turnin on its axis. Inassembling these parts wit in the gri -head 10, the nut 17 may be firstintroduced? then the shaft 15 at right angles thereto and under thesame. Then the exterior nut 29 may be turned home on the protrudingscrew-threaded end of shaft 15 and against said grip-head as shown inFig. 7. Then the shaft 6 may be screwed through the nut 17. The downwardextension 0 opening 41 (Fig. 6) and the open construction of the bottomof said casing will facilitate the above operation or any otherconvenient order of assemblage. The openings 40, 41, 43 and 44 are wideenough to permit the slight swiveling motion of the griphead in ahorizontal plane as hereinbefore described when the convex parts 19 ofsaid griphead rock horizontally on the concave parts 1 8 of the nut andthe shafts 6 and 15 are not per mitted to obstruct such motion. As thereis one of these grip-heads at each corner of the normally rectangularseries of gripping mech S0 anism com rising the two ro er-carryingshafts 15, t is construction and ada tation provide a certain amount offlexib ity at each of said corners, so that in practical use the saidrectan ular series of gripping mechanism may yield at need assuming asomewhat rhomboid shape, and permitting the gripping r'ollers to bepresented to the boring roc for effective grip thereon, not withstandingany slight change of form or position in any of the shafts which may bedue to change of temperature, strain or jar. This feature of or tubeevenly and in the best position the flexible automatic compensation andad- 1. In a rotary well-boring machine tubegripping mechanism,comprising shafts carrying tube gripping devices and adjusting shaftsand having normally a quadrilatera form as a whole, but provided at itscorners with nuts having concave sides and contiguous parts havingconvex facesfitting said sides, the said parts connectin the ends ofsaid shafts to each other and a owing horizontal flexure for the purposeset forth.

2. In a rotary well boring machine, tubegrip ing. mechanism comprisingtwo shafts carrying tube gripping devices, two screwthreaded adjustingshafts for the same, four grip heads arranged at the corners of thesystem of mechanism thus formed and nuts within said grip headsreceiving said screwthreaded shaft and locked against vertical orendwise movement, the said nuts and grip-heads being provided withcurvilinear parts in contact within each other, whereby zontal plane forthe purpose set forth.

3. In a rotary well boring machine, a pair of shafts carryingtube-gripping devices, in

I combination with screw-threaded shafts for A fit into saidconcavities, to permit a swiveling action of the nuts and grip-heads ina horizontal plane substantially as set forth.

' 4. In a rotary well-boring machine, a pair of shafts carryingtube-gripping devices having flattened faces, in combination withscrew-threaded shafts for adjusting said gri roller shafts, nuts on saidgrip roller shaf ts having flattened faces in contact with the similarfaces of said shafts but provided with curvilinear sides, and grip headswhich hold said nuts in contact with such shaft faces but allow saidnuts to swivel in a horizontal plane substantially as set forth.

H 5. A nut provided with concave surfaces in its sides but flat on topand below, in combination with a screw threaded adjusting shaft engagingsaid nut, a shaft carrying a tube-gripping device having a flat face ontop and a ho low grip head provided with inwardly facing convex partsfitting said concave parts of the sides of the nut and holding the lowerface of the latter in contact with the flattened face of the shaftsubstantially as set forth.

6. In rotary well-borin machines, the

' combination of a pair of sha ts carrying tubegrippin devices and apair of screw-threaded sha ts for adjusting them toward and from eachother, with a hollow grip-head connecting the proximate ends of saidshafts,

nuts engaging the latter shaft and having curvilinear side-faces adaptedto permit swiveling in a horizontal p aim and means for holding saidnuts against upward or endwise motion, with relation to said grip-headthough permitting such swiveling action substantially as set forth.

7. In rotar well-boring machines, tubegri ping mec anism normallyquadrilateral in orm and provided at the corners with nuts havingconcave sides, and with devices having convex parts fitting suchconcavities for swiveling "to slightly change such form, in combinationwith a rotary table, having sockets in its upper face, and sup orts forsuch mechanism having stems w ich set freely into said sockets,permitting said supports to spring with the mechanism above the tablesubstantially as set forth.

8. In a rotary well-boring machine, tubegripping mechanism, comprisingshafts car-- rymgtube-gri ping devices and screw threaded adjusting slfafts and having ap roximately a quadrilateral form as a" who e, butprovided at its corners with nuts for said adjusting shafts, havingconcavities in their sides and with contiguous parts fitting saidconcavities to permit horizontal flexure, the

said nuts and contiguous parts serving to flexibly connect the ends ofthe roller-carr ing shafts to the ends of the adjustin sha ts forallowing the tube ipping mec anism as a whole to vary slightly from thequadrilateral form substantiall as set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

r JAMES ALEXANDER WIGGS, JR.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. SMITH, BENJAMINE G. NnvILLii.

